Friday, February 8, 2019

February 8 #OnThisDay in #Australian #History

1792 - James Collington was Hanged at Sydney for breaking into the hut of the baker John Campbell and stealing bread, flour and a check apron. At the hanging tree he addressed the assembled convicts before his execution, warning them to avoid the path he had pursued; but said that he was induced by hunger to commit the crime for which he suffered. [1]

1845 - MURDER BY BLACKS[sic].-About three weeks ago, some forty or fifty natives of the Loddon tribe visited N. Simson's station on the Loddon, and en-camped within forty yards of one of the huts. About two o'clock on the following morning, they were surprised by an attack from another body of blacks (supposed to be a tribe from the Grampians,) who speared and killed some half dozen of the Loddon natives. Mr. Simson, when he heard of the affray, went down to the scene of action, and had the wounded savages properly cared for. Mr. Protector Parker and two mounted policemen went out after the attacking parties, but we understand they were obliged to abandon the pursuit.[2]

1864 - Nightingale, a schooner, was wrecked on Long Island, while sheltering from a gale off the Sir James Smith Islands. The crew landed at Cape Bowling Green where they were attacked by aborigines and taken as slaves. Some of the crew were later rescued by the schooner Three Friends but the master died from the beatings he had received.[3]

1868 - Shortly before the the Duke of Edinburgh sailed home to England on this day he attended the practice, on a couple of days, of the team of Aboriginal Australian cricketers who were preparing in Sydney for the first sports tour by Australians, and for the first cricket tour to England.[4]

1900 The Chinese camp at Dunolly (Vic) was burnt, destroying 7 housing areas and the Joss House. The fire brigade saved several houses and the chapel but the landmark of 30 years is lost.[5]

1947 - Six Australian BPW clubs met and passed a resolution that an Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs be formed.[6]

2003 - In Australia 750 nude women formed a heart around the words 'No War' near the town of Byron Bay to protest possible war with Iraq.[7]

2012 - Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett had been confronted by about 50 protesters who described a billion-dollar native title deal as a sham.[8]

2016 - Chief Minister Adam Giles launched the CLP's Aboriginal Affairs Strategy which would track 34 specific areas where the Government would measure its performance.[9]

2017 - The Federal Court ruled that Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUA) can only be registered if they are signed by all registered Native Title Claimants who are “named applicants”, replacing a previous court decision that allowed registration without all named applicants having signed the ILUA (called the McGlade decision).[10]

2018 - Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine says that the establishment of an Indigenous voice to parliament would help address key problems outlined in a 10-year review of the Closing the Gap strategy.[11]